Three Strangers (1946)

Three strangers, each with a serious problem in their lives, share a sweepstakes ticket which they wished upon together before a Chinese idol.

Director:

Jean Negulesco

Writers:

John Huston (original screenplay), Howard Koch (original screenplay)

Stars:

Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Peter Lorre

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Jerome K. Arbutny
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Crystal Shackleford
Peter Lorre	...	Johnny West
Joan Lorring	...	Icey Crane
Robert Shayne	...	Bertram Fallon
Marjorie Riordan	...	Janet Elliott
Arthur Shields	...	Prosecutor
Rosalind Ivan	...	Lady Rhea Beladon
John Alvin	...	Junior Clerk
Peter Whitney	...	Timothy Delaney aka Gabby
Alan Napier	...	David Shackleford
Clifford Brooke	...	Senior Clerk
Doris Lloyd	...	Mrs. Proctor

Storyline

According to a legend, if three strangers gather before an idol of Kwan Yin (the Chinese goddess of fortune and destiny) on the night of the Chinese New Year and make a common wish, Kwan Yin will open her eyes and her heart and grant the wish. In London 1938 on the Chinese New Year, Crystal Shackleford has such an idol and decides to put the legend to the test. She picks two random strangers off the street, and puts the proposition to them. They decide that an ideal wish would be for a sweepstakes ticket they buy equal shares in to be a winner. After all, everyone needs money and a pot is very easy to divide equally, right?

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Plot Keywords:

sweepstakes | chinese new year | destiny | psyche | accountant | 

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Taglines:

BREATHTAKING SUSPENSE - THRILLS! (original ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 January 1946 (USA)

Also Known As:

3 Desconhecidos

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alfred Hitchcock showed early interest in directing.

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Quotes

Johnny West: Do you realize what you're asking Kwan-yin to do? We want her to reshuffle a hand that destiny has already dealt us. Why? - because we hope to get higher cards.

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Soundtracks

"Waltz in A Flat Major, Op. 39"
(uncredited
Music by Johannes Brahms
Played on the piano by Johnny

User Reviews

A handsomely mounted, ironic thriller devoid of emotional resonance

Why is Three Strangers, a 1946 movie, set in the London in 1938? There's nothing in the story that links it to a particular time. But in 1938, Britain had yet to be drawn into the long and arduous war to come, when gallantry and self-sacrifice were the orders of the day. The characters in Three Strangers are mirthlessly ungallant and single-mindedly self-absorbed; relegating them to the fool's paradise of the year before all hell broke loose was a diplomatic courtesy.

But a movie centered around three unappealing characters presents another, more immediate problem: The problems they bring on themselves do not compel much sympathy. The movie opens before midnight as the Chinese New Year is about to strike. Geraldine Fitzgerald has been trolling the streets to bring two strangers (Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre) back to her flat. Her quest is not sexual but ritualistic: The Chinese goddess of fortune, a statue of whom graces her drawing room, requires the gathering of three persons unknown to one another before she will grant her annual wish. When all the conditions and codicils have been duly haggled over, the three agree to wish for a winning sweepstakes ticket.

Then they part ways to return to their separate hells. The grasping, manipulative Fitzgerald has driven away her husband, who returns from Canada with a young woman he wants to marry. The avaricious Greenstreet, a solicitor, has been plundering his clients' accounts to speculate in stocks. The alcoholic Lorre (by default the least offensive of the trio) finds himself on death row for a policeman's murder committed by one of his low-life friends who framed him. Their individual stories unfold and, in ironies reminiscent of de Maupassant or O. Henry, ultimately reconverge. As expected, Jean Negulesco directs handsomely but can't overcome the emotional vacuum in John Huston's script: The fates of these three strangers leave us cold.